New Delhi, September 8
The Supreme Court today directed CBI Director Ranjit Sinha to file his written response within a week to the allegations that he had met executives from companies accused in the 2G scam as part of a move to scuttle the probe to bail them out.

A Bench comprising Justices HL Dattu and SA Bobde made it clear that Sinha should be prepared to face consequences if he did not give his response to the “serious charges.” The Bench would draw “adverse inferences” from his reluctance, it said.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the PIL petitioner that has levelled the allegations, also submitted the original visitors’ register maintained at the official residence of the CBI Director to substantiate the contention that Sinha had indeed received the visitors.

Bhushan said the register was delivered last night at his residence by two persons who refused to identify themselves. He was handing it over to the court as he feared that the CBI might destroy it to erase the vital evidence. The Bench asked court officials to keep the register in safe custody. Arguing for Sinha, senior advocate Vikas Singh said the allegations would delay the trial proceedings.

Acknowledging that the SC was keen on expeditious trial, the Bench clarified that it would ask the trial judge to defer the trial for a week as “heavens will not fall” by the delay. “We also want a fair trial,” besides fast-tracking it, the Bench explained. At this, Bhushan said “heavens may fall” if Sinha made some notings on the files about the 2G cases. The Bench assured him that the court would order the deletion of such notings.

The Bench allowed Sinha to file his response in two parts, one dealing with his preliminary objection to such allegations without revealing the source of such information and the other on his response to the charges. Sinha had liberty to file his reply in a sealed cover, the Bench said.